Friday, October 27, 2023

Looking back - 2018

 

5 Years ago 2018 – I started the month with the Great Island 5k (New Castle, NH) I hadn’t been since 2010 but had run it four times in the first six years it was held.  Guy Stearns (RD) had invited me back for the 25th running of the race and it was an open weekend, plus free entries are few and far between!  Back in 1995 I won and set the then course record of 14:59.  I’d run under 15 three times but that was DECADES ago.  My goal this time was to break 18 minutes.  I felt pretty good warming up (never a good sign).  Guy gave a few notes before sending out the field of about 600.  Although 600 is a solid turnout for a race nowadays this was a bit of a disappointment for Great Island which has had as many as 1,200. 

I went out pretty hard and found myself in about 15th after we looped around the park at the start.  Wow, it felt fast.  About ½ mile in Erik Johnson rumbled on by.  He’d be the only person to pass me.  Matt Sawyer was a few seconds ahead of me and I tried my best to get latched onto him.  I reached the mile in 5:38, which was right in the ballpark for a sub-18 (the first mile is the easiest in this race).  I closed a bit on Matt along the ocean then the two 30’ climbs between 1.5 and the 2 mile mark closed the gap even more.  I reached 2 miles in 11:36 (5:58) and was pretty sure that sub-18 was not going to happen.  I passed Matt but I was wheezing and feeling beat.  The last mile was just survival mode.  I was able to keep it under 6 (5:59) and crossed the finish line in a disappointing 18:13.

1          15:14.3 Derrick Hamel   Newmarket, NH             35        M3039

2          15:40.9 Neal Darmody   Bow, NH                       28        M2029

3          16:05.4 Aidan Cox         Northwood, NH             13        M0029

12        18:13.0 Dave Dunham  Haverhill, MA                54        M5059

Jackson biathlon 5km trail race:  It was 40 degrees and drizzling, so ideal for a trail race.  The course was well marked at turns and since it was basically an out/back there weren't many opportunities to mess up. They had a unique start with Olympic Biathlete  Sean Doherty starting us by knocking down five targets.  I headed out in third place and moved into the lead by 3/4 of a mile.   I had 10 seconds at the turn but 2nd place kept it close finishing 18 seconds back.

Place Name Age ST City Time

1 Dave Dunham 54 MA Bradford            23:16

2 Josh Flanagan 39 NH Alton     23:34

3 Brian Byrne 45 NH Jackson    24:30


 

Baystate Marathon (USATF NE championships):  The number one goal was to finish and score for the CMS 50+ team.  I felt that sub-3 hours was do-able.  I felt pretty good except for my ankle which was very tender right from the start.  I kept thinking it’d loosen up.  I hit the half-marathon mark in 1:28:10, almost exactly the split I ran last year.  The second half was a bit of a disaster.  My ankle was really hurting every step was a jolt.  I lost 50 spots in the 2nd half and slowed by over 5 minutes.  It literally took me ½ hour to get to my car.  Oddly my knee didn’t bother me at all during the race but the ankle would barely support me after the race. I got cortisone shot in my ankle (sub-talar joint inflammation) and an MRI for my knee.  The cortisone shot meant 2 weeks off.  The knee ended up being a partial dislocation of my knee cap (Patellar Subluxation).   

M50 Pl O'all    Time                Name              City, St                        Age     Team

1          15        2:40:23.3          Robert Ashby    Brunswick, ME  50        Dirigo

2          16        2:40:45.3          David Principe   Johnston, RI     51        CMS

3          43        2:52:00.8          Paul Davies      Roslindale, MA  51        BAA

4          55        2:55:34.7          Peter Burke      Westbrook, ME 50        Dirigo

5          75        2:58:15.4          Xianbao He       Brookline, MA   53        BEN

6          77        2:58:30.6          Mark Reeder     Brighton, MA     59        GLRR

7          80        2:58:44.5          David Consigli   Medway, MA     53        BAA

8          110       3:01:51.8          Dave Dunham  Bradford, MA     54        CMS

9          130       3:04:56.2          EJ Hrynowski    Arlington, MA    56        GLRR

10        134       3:05:19.3          Terry Mcnatt     Needham, MA   53        CSU

11        145       3:07:09.6          David Lapierre  Chelmsford, MA 54        CMS

16        198       3:12:26.6          Paul Young       Andover, MA     53        CMS

 


 

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